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Did you know that tomorrow is World Kindness Day? It’s wonderful to have a day to officially recognize kindness, and hopefully it will prompt us to extend kindness and love to each other each and every day. One of the reasons I wrote LOVE IS KIND was so that kids could see through a fun story just how varied and wonderful extending love and kindness to others can be! Here now, to help you celebrate KINDNESS after reading LOVE IS KIND, are six book-themed extension activities. Enjoy!

PUT ON A PLAY.Creatively re-enacting the story is a great way to embrace and reinforce the wonderful message of the story.So, after reading LOVE IS KIND, have fun retelling it using stuffed animals, puppets, or yourselves!Don’t forget to grab three coins, a dollar bill, and a crinkled coupon! For extra fun, write the snippets from I Corinthians 13 that are found within the illustrations on sentence strips.Then have one child hold up at the right places during the re-enactment.

DO A PICTURE READ THROUGH.After reading LOVE IS KIND, flip things around by having your child re-read it to you using the pictures as clues! Reading the pictures is a great pre-reading skill because it encourages interacting with the page. So, snuggle up and enjoy being “read” to.Reading the story again and again is also a good way to take to HEART the message of the story – that kindness and love aren’t found in a box – even one filled with chocolates.

MEMORIZE I CORINTHIANS 13: 4 – 8a by SINGING it! This famous Bible passage was inspirational to LOVE IS KIND and snippets of it appear throughout the story.As you read, look for them in the illustrations!Afterwards, open your bibles and play around with various familiar tunes that you could sing the passage to. My favorite pick:Sing to the tune of “Happy Birthday”and when you get to the finale – “Love never fails” sing that to the “Happy Birthday” postscript – “…and many more.”Songs, as you probably know, are a great (and fun) way to memorize all sorts of things because the melodies and words combined stay with us – our whole lives.

SEND a “KINDNESS” POSTCARD to SOMEONE SPECIAL.Illustrator Lison Chaperon created awesome postcard printables to celebrate the release of LOVE IS KIND. Print one (preferably in color) for each child and glue as directed. Post card printables are found in this LOVE IS KIND Activity Kit from Zonderkidz. When dry have your child write a sweet “I love you” or “Kind thought” message to someone special – perhaps a grandparent or beloved aunt or uncle or teacher.It’s a perfect opportunity to reinforce correspondence conventions, address writing skills, and old-fashioned empathy.Then affix proper postage and take a trip to the post office to mail!

SPREAD SOME EDIBLE LOVE.After reading LOVE IS KIND, bake a batch of your favorite sugar cookies – heart-shaped, of course. Decorate with icing, then arrange them on a plate and deliver them to a neighbor, family member, or friend who could use a little extra dose of love and kindness. Or, if you have heart-shaped molds (available at your favorite craft or confectionary making shop) make your own heart-shaped chocolates and deliver those instead. Or, bake some muffins and top them with these delightful character-themed muffin toppers (with recipe), created by the illustrator and have a kindness tea party.

COLOR, make an OWL MASK or DRAW ! After reading LOVE IS KIND, print out one of these adorable coloring pages and have fun coloring while you talk about your favorite bits of the story which can all be found in the LOVE IS KIND Activity Kit Zonderkidz has created to accompany the book.Or, have your child DRAW their favorite scene. Then talk about what made it their favorite. Have fun!

Tune in again tomorrow as I celebrate WORLD KINDNESS DAY with a special post and giveaway over at Noelle Kirchner’s blog. Pop over today to see her kindness devotional. I’ll post the link for tomorrow’s visit on my blog tomorrow.

Happy Reading, all… and I hope your day is filled with KINDNESS AND LOVE!

For her birthday, my daughter received a subscription to CRICKET® Magazine, an engagingly written and beautifully illustrated literary magazine for ages 9 – 14 that’s part of a larger family of magazines published by Cricket Media. Other magazines in the group include LADYBUG® Magazine, for ages 3 – 6, and SPIDER® Magazine, for ages 6 – 9. I’m a long-time fan of these magazines. Several of my poems have appeared within their pages, gorgeously illustrated. With this subscription, however, I’ve had chance to appreciate these magazines from a new angle – that of educator and mom.

As a homeschool mom who seeks to engage my daughter with interesting lessons, as well as ones that align with the common core, I was delighted to discover that Cricket Media has created in-depth teacher guides for each of their magazines. Curious to see what they were like, I downloaded the Teacher’s Guide for the March 2017 issue of CRICKET® Magazine.

The March 2017 CRICKET® Magazine Teacher’s Guide is 26 pages long and includes directions for how to use the guide, a skills and standards overview, plus detailed lesson plans for each story/poem with lots of thoughtful questions relating to key ideas, text structure, various literary elements, vocabulary and more. Each lesson also includes ideas for writing extensions. This month, I’ve been incorporating one story/poem from the issue, along with the accompanying discussion and writing activities, into our weekly literature/language arts lessons.

Early last week, my daughter wrote her own personal narrative as an extension for the first story in the magazine, “Wishin’ Impossible”, and we ended the week with a lovely in-depth analysis and discussion of the poem, “March”, which is found on page 10 of the March issue.

The extra special thing about this particular poem is that I know the author! Jennifer Cole Judd is not only a talented poet whose work appears regularly in children’s magazines, she is also the author of the delightful rhyming picture book, Circus Train, whichwas published in 2015 by Two Lions. After a thoughtful discussion of Jennifer’s metaphorical poem which compares March winds to a lion, Miss A. was inspired by to write her own poem.

Thank you, Cricket Media, for creating beautiful literary publications that inspire my reluctant reader to both read and write! And thank you, Jennifer, for sharing your beautifuly written pieces with the world!

Author-Illustrator Mary Morgan’s newest book, PIP SITS (I Like to Read®), released last month. Published by Holiday House as part of their I Like to Read Series, it’s the sweet story of Pip, a porcupine, and the little ducklings who think he’s their mama. PIP SITS has received some lovely reviews. Kirkus Reviews calls it “A good read for hatching new readers” and SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL compliments Mary’s illustrations as “endearing”. I’m thrilled today to have Mary as my guest. Thank you for joining us, Mary! I believe this is the first time I’ve had an author-illustrator here to chat about a book! Well, let’s get started.

What is the inspiration behind PIP SITS?

I was inspired by an antique photograph of a young girl sitting in the grass with many ducklings on her lap. The look on her face was pure joy. I tried to find an original idea that would also capture the bliss children have when relating to animals. I thought about birds imprinting on whoever they first see when they hatch. I have raised baby birds and it is very interesting to have a tiny bird imprint on you. So this was how the idea of the story was hatched.

How wonderful for your readers, Mary, that you had the creative instinct to write a story based on these bits of inspiration.

PIP SITS is not your first book. Tell us a little bit about your journey as an author/illustrator.

I was born in Chicago and grew up in Kansas City. My summers were spent in Tulsa with my grandmother where I first took art classes at the Philbrook Art Gallery and later was an assistant art teacher. I could do what I loved there, draw! My grandmother always encouraged my art with trips to the ballet and art museums. She let me keep all kinds of animals to draw from: mice, guinea pigs, chicks and even a small bat. My father’s nightly readings of Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little and the Wind in the Willows also inspired me. I was enthralled by these books and knew I wanted to create books too.

What a wonderful way to grow up! And I’m so glad you listened to that inner voice that said “I want to create books too!”

Since you are my first author-illustrator, I know my readers will be extra interested in hearing what your process was like as both author and illustrator in creating this story.

I wrote the story in a rough form first. Then I made many character sketches of Pip, the porcupine. After this, I imagined the scenes in the book. I drew very rough ideas of what the images would look like on each page.

Then I rewrote the story many times working out all the details. When at last I was content with the story I did the finished drawings.

I find it interesting that you wrote the story first. I, for some reason, imagined that you would begin with sketches. But, I can see that both are integral in your creative process. Fascinating!

Teachers and parents are always looking for ways to tie picture books into the curriculum or extend the enjoyment with post-reading activities. Do you have any extension activities your readers might enjoy?

My web site is www.marymorganbooks.com. On my web page there is a section called, fun page. There I show you how to make dragon pizzas, draw a dragon and help Little Mouse find another place to sleep. Here is an example…

In the book, Sleep Tight Little Mouse, Little Mouse found many places to sleep. He slept upside down with bats in a cave, inside kangaroo pouches and even in a bird’s nest. Can you think of other ways animals sleep that Little Mouse might like to try?
Make a drawing of him sleeping like these different animals.

That “Fun Page” is a treasure, Mary. I also did a little poking around, Mary, and discovered a terrific educator’s guide for PIP SITS available at Holiday House.

Finally, what’s next? Are there more picture books and projects in the pipeline? Also, where can interested readers find your books and other work for sale?

I have many projects I am working on. One is a fantasy about a young girl that migrates with the Monarchs. I hope this story will bring interest to the difficulties the Monarch Butterfly is having with its environment. I am also working on a book about a bilingual bird and another about magical tutus. My books can be bought on Amazon.com.

Thank you so much for joining us, Mary!

About the Author

After studying art at the Kansas City Art Institute and the Instituto de San Miguel de Allende in Mexico; Mary worked as an illustrator at Hallmark cards for ten years.

Mary illustrated her first book in 1987. In the past twenty years she has illustrated over forty books, many of which she also wrote: from Jake Baked a Cake, Sleep Tight Little Mouse to her most recent book, Pip Sits.

Mary and her husband divide their time between France, their home is in a small medieval village, Semur en Auxois, their sailboat, which is now in The Canary Islands and their families, especially their grandchildren!

This week I’m sharing yet another ADORABLE new picture book out just in time for Valentine’s Day. Written by Jackie Azua Kramer and charmingly illustrated by Maral Sassouni in their double debut, THE GREEN UMBRELLA (NorthSouth Books, Inc, 2017) is story of a friendly pink elephant, his green umbrella, and the imaginative friends he meets along the way. Treat yourself to the delightful book trailer. Then help yourself to a rich serving of extension activities celebrating rain, friendship, sharing, and the power of imagination!

THE GREEN UMBRELLA: 10 Extension Activities

Make umbrella valentines. With its theme of friendship and kindness, The Green Umbrella makes a perfect Valentine’s read. Afterwards, celebrate friendship and kindness with your child by making these cute umbrella-inspired valentines using colorful paper, index cards, and those mini candy-canes that you might still have left over from Christmas!

Be an inventor. After enjoying the story, extend the fun by having your child imagine how THEY might creatively re-purpose the umbrella if they were in the story. Then using paper or clay, or whatever materials tickle your fancy, bring your idea to life! (For extra fun, have have a few cocktail umbrellas on hand to be incorporated into the creation.

Put on a play.Creatively re-enacting the story is a great way to embrace and reinforce the wonderful concepts of empathy, friendship, and imagination. So, after reading the story, have fun retelling it using stuffed animals, puppets, or yourselves! Don’t forget to use an umbrella as a prop!

Have an umbrella tea party. With your child’s help, fix a pot of tea (or lemonade) and arrange (or even bake) a plate of cookies. Then grab a picnic quilt, an umbrella and, if possible, a few friends! Select a cheery spot outdoors (or indoors if it’s raining), then read and have tea under an umbrella, just the way Elephant and his friends do in the story.

Take a rainy day stroll. Take advantage of the next rainy day to read the story and then take your very own stroll in the rain. Catch rain drops on your tongue, splash through puddles, and take turns holding the umbrella for each other! Then come inside for a book-themed rainy day snack of tea and cookies.

Shower the world with kindness (umbrella style!). Using little strips of paper brainstorm and write down 14 sweet acts of kindness. (Ex. Hold the door open for someone; Make a card for someone; etc.) Fold and tape the strips to the bases of little paper cocktail umbrellas. Place umbrellas in a bowl. Each day, select an umbrella to find your surprise mission. Then shower strangers and loved ones alike with your sweet acts of kindness.

Play umbrella hide and seek.While one person has their eyes covered, another hides the umbrella making sure everyone else sees where it is hidden. Then using clapping (to sound like soft rain or a raging storm) help the person whose eyes were covered to find the umbrella. No voices allowed. Only the pitter-patter of rain – soft if they are far from the umbrella and loud if they are close. (Warning: This game will be a big hit!)

Play musical umbrella. First put on your favorite children’s kindness/friendship themed album. (We like anything Raffi at our house.) Then, using the umbrella instead of the more traditional “hot potato”, sit in a circle and gently pass the umbrella to the music. When the music stops, everyone says one kind thing to the person holding the umbrella. Ex. You are funny. I like your striped socks. You make me feel welcome etc.)

Teachers and Parents: This is the second in a series I will be posting especially for you. Over the course of the next few weeks, and in celebration of the release of the board book edition of GOODNIGHT, MANGER, I will be posting several book-linked activities for you to enjoy with your children.

Going on a PATTERN Hunt (Plus a Craft):

A GOODNIGHT, MANGER Extension Activity for Pre-Readers

Seeing and recognizing patterns are important skills for pre-readers. They lay the ground work for understanding words and stories. With that in mind, here are some fun pattern-related activities you and your child might enjoy after reading “Goodnight, Manger”.

Picture Patterns: Each page of “Goodnight, Manger” is full of colors and patterns. Colors alternate to form stripes. Shapes are repeated (ex: stars, squares, dots, rectangles, milk splashes, palm fronds). As you explore Jane’s wonderful illustrations, see how many visual patterns you and your child can find. Afterwards, grab crayons and paper and make your own patterned star ornaments. (See sample below). Or go on a pattern hunt around your house looking for fun visual patterns in curtains, plants, tiles etc.

Text Patterns: The text, too, is patterned visually. Pre-readers might enjoy examining the lay out of words. With your child, notice how the text is clumped into verses. Count how many lines are in each verse (four) and note that this is a repeating pattern throughout the story.

Sound Patterns: When you read the story aloud you’ll note that the sounds of the words form their own patterns as well. With your child, listen for sound patterns. Each verse contains rhyming words at the end of the 2nd and 4th lines (ex: fed/bed, itches/twitches). There are also words that repeat one right after the other (ex: No! No! No! and tap, tap, tap). After exploring different sound patterns, you and your child might enjoy making a game of creating your own sound patterns using rhyme and repetition.

EXTRA FUN: Celebrate the joy of Christmas and reinforce the fun of patterns with this simple craft.

My eleven-year-old decided to write her own retelling of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. First, she went to the library to find as many versions as she could of the famous tale. She read each one, noting what characteristics they shared and what details made each unique.

She titled her version “Sea White and the Seven Starfish”. After several weeks of writing and revising, her story sparkled like sunshine on a salty sea. “Will you publish it on your blog?” she asked. “I could,” I answered, “but it might be more fun to see if you could get it published in a magazine.” She loved the idea. But where to start?

With my daughter in mind, here now are SIX tips for young writers (and their parents) on how to submit original kid-written work to magazines.

Select a publication destination. Only certain magazines accept work from children. For a comprehensive list, visit the NewPages Young Author’s Guide. Maintained by editor Denise Hill, a teacher who loves to encourage young writers, this great resource also includes a list of legitimate contests for kids. Each listing has a link to the publication’s website where you can find more information.

Read several issues before submitting anything.Once you have a short list of potential publications, be sure to take time to read several back issues. Not only is this a great chance for your kids to experience reading magazines, it will also give you and them a sense of the style and content of each. Does one magazine favor poetry while another favors prose? Are the illustrations also done by kids? How many pieces by kids are included in each issue? These are just a few of the questions you and your child will want to think about.

Follow the publisher’s guidelines carefully.Once you and your child have decided which magazine to submit to, revisit the publisher’s website and print out their submission guidelines. Make sure your child follows their protocol exactly so that she/he makes a good impression and so that the piece is eligible for review. Pay special attention to word length and format. For example, does the piece need to be typed, or is neat handwriting okay?

Send ONLY your BEST work. This should be obvious, but it warrants special mention because, as I’ve learned from visiting young writers in schools, kids often mistakenly think that once they’ve written something, it’s finished. But good writing requires revision, preferably multiple times, with a nice final round of polishing. And it’s always a good idea to proofread every sentence with care one extra time before sending.

Be patient.This is hard for kids, but waiting is the name of the game in the publishing world. Most magazines give a time frame for when to expect a reply. A nice way to help kids wait is to colorfully mark the possible response date on the family calendar. While they wait, encourage them to work new stories and projects!

Stay positive and remember rejection is part of the process. This is also hard for kids, but the reality is only a few of the multitude of manuscripts submitted will make it into print. Still, kids can remain positive because just taking the time to hone and craft a story and send it off – no matter the ultimate response – makes them a winner in my book! And if nothing pans out, there’s always the possibility of publishing it as an email to family members, or as a special blog post on a family member’s blog. Sounds like a win/win to me!

Did you know April is National Poetry Month? Here are 10 ways to celebrate with your kids.

#1 Write/ illustrate a poem with your child. Picture book author and poet, Penny Klostermann, runs a series on her blog in which a poet and child collaborate on a poem. My daughter and I even contributed a collaboration – an experience we will be both cherish for a lifetime. First, have fun together exploring the series. Then, using the series as a model, either write a poem and have your child illustrate it, or let your child illustrate something and then write a poem based on the illustration. Don’t worry about perfection – just have fun celebrating poetry together!

#2 Participate in Poem in Your Pocket Day. Even littlest ones can enjoy the fun on April 21st as people all over the nation carry favorite poems in their pockets to read and share throughout the day. Teachers should ask parents ahead of time to help their little one select a short, simple poem to tuck into their pocket and bring to class. Throughout the morning, pause to read and celebrate each child’s poem. For more information check out the Academy of American Poets website.

#3 Memorize a poem together. I still remember the A.A. Milne poem “Disobedience” which my mother and I memorized when I was three. Actually, I’m not sure we even memorized it on purpose. I just wanted her to read it to me every night and pretty soon we were reciting it – just because we loved it so much. To hear it recited by Tom O’Bedlam, press here. Is there a poem you and your child love? Then consider memorizing it together. (If you’ve been reading it to them a lot lately, they may surprise you by already knowing it by heart.) Have fun!

#4 Have a Chalk-A-Bration. On the last day of this and every month, copy or create a poem in chalk with your child on a sidewalk, driveway, or playground surface for others to enjoy. For more details, visit kindergarten teacher and chalk poem lover, Besty Hubbard,at her blog Teaching Young Writers.

#6 Hear your favorite children’s poets read their own work at No Water River. Poet Renee LaTulippe has a lovely and growing video collection of authors reading samples of their poetry for kids. Each video segment is accompanied by an interview and extension activities. You can even find me reading my poem“Sir Ned”. Enjoy!

#7 Sip tea and listen to poems at a “Poetry Teatime”. Visit Brave Writer for tips on hosting a successful teatime with little ones. Though geared to a homeschool setting, her tips for teatime can easily be adapted to any family setting.

#8 Take a field trip… to the library! Poetry collections are shelved separately from fiction and picturebooks. Ask the librarian (or better yet let your child ask the librarian) to direct you to the poetry section. Then spend some delightful time exploring the wonderful breadth and diversity in children’s poetry books. Check out your favorites to bring home.

#9 Play with words. This is what poets do! We play with sound and imagery. Little ones love to do this too! So, instill a love for poetry by playing rhyming games. Foster rhythm by stomping or clapping to to the beat of the words. Play with onomotopeia by creating your own sound words and acting them out. Have fun with alliteration by taking turns making fun and crazy lists of words that begin with the same sound.

I recently discovered a fun FREE resource for educators and parents of young readers. Compiled by TeachingBooks.net, the Author Name Pronunciation Guide is a collection of over 2 ,000 (and growing) one-minute audio recordings of children’s authors and illustrators pronouncing and telling stories about their names. I spent a good thirty minutes just sitting and taking turns listening to some of my kids’ favorite authors sharing a little bit about themselves and their names in these short recorded snippets.

Brief as they are, these recordings are a FABULOUS way to enrich a reading and/or writing lesson because they bring the author’s voice into the classroom in a conversational way that can spark discussion not only about the books they’ve written, but about the meaningfulness of names. Indeed, I was so enchanted that I added my name and recording to the collection.

To access the collection, visit TeachingBooks.net. Scroll down the Author and Book Resources tab and select Audio Name Pronunciations. You will now see the whole collection alphabetized. Enjoy exploring and listening!

If you are an educator, you might also enjoy exploring the other resources this site offers. For full access, schools must pay a modest licensing fee, but given the richness of resources, I think it would be a delightful investment. The resources include exclusive Meet-the-Author Movies and Meet-the-Author Book Readings and much, much more! Samples of various resources are viewable on their website. Enjoy!

DISCLOSURE POLICY

This blog is written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide opinion on any product, website, service or topic. The books I review are either purchased by me or checked out of the library. Occasionally, I have received an ARC from the publisher or have won a book in a giveaway. However, in no instance, was I, or will I ever be, required to write a positive review. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own.